Wakefield baby's bathroom birth after eight-minute labour

A young couple delivered their baby in a bathroom after a labour lasting just eight minutes.

Joshua Courtney, advised by a midwife over the phone, helped Natalie Dunleavy give birth after her waters broke at their home in Tingley, Wakefield.

Miss Dunleavy, 22, said: "It was so quick it was unbelievable. Josh was amazing. It was an amazing experience to remember."

Their daughter Bo-Pierre, who weighed 8lb 4oz, is now doing well at home.

Miss Dunleavy, who also has a four-year-old son Jayden-Lee, said she started getting pains at about 01:20 BST on Thursday.

She dismissed them at first as she had been suffering with an upset stomach.

She said: "But then the pains started to get unbearable.

"I just had this urge to go to the toilet, I didn't know why... and my waters just burst and went all over the floor. That's when I knew."

All of a sudden Natalie said to me that her waters had broken. I ran back into the bathroom panicking like madJoshua Courtney

Miss Dunleavy said she was scared when she realised how quickly the labour was progressing, as her daughter had developed Group B streptococcus (GBS) and midwives had told her she would need intravenous antibiotics in the hours before she gave birth.

'Absolutely terrified'

GBS is the most common cause of life-threatening infections in newborn babies in the UK.

Miss Dunleavy said: "I just started panicking and screaming. Then I realised that I didn't have a choice anyway and there was nothing I could do to stop her coming out."

Bo-Pierre was later given the all-clear after a course of antibiotics.

Joshua Courtney said he was "absolutely terrified" during the birth

Miss Dunleavy said: "I was in disbelief the majority of Thursday and a bit of Friday and a bit of Saturday. She's not even meant to be here yet, she was due on the 17th."

Mr Courtney, 21, said he was "absolutely terrified" during the birth.

He said: "I was on the phone to the midwife and all of a sudden Natalie said to me that her waters had broken.

"I ran back into the bathroom panicking like mad. The woman on the phone was trying to calm me down."

After checking that the umbilical cord was not wrapped around the baby's neck, Mr Courtney helped deliver his daughter, rubbed her back to get her to breathe and covered her in towels to keep her warm.

He said: "I didn't believe it was me that did it, I think my body went into auto pilot."